Travel from Santander to Algorfa - Travel restrictions . . .

You may be used to spending 4 months at a time in Algorfa but I'm afraid you won't be doing it in February, or in fact ever again without taking up residency in Spain. 

From 1.1.21 your time in the Schengen area will be strictly limited to 90 days in any 180 and your passport will be stamped both in and out. 

Disobey that rule and you risk a fine and possible exclusion from re-entering. 

It's always been that way it's just that until now nobody has been counting but those days are about to come to an end. 

Hello

As your question was about travel restrictions, I'll try to answer.  At the moment, each region of Spain has closed it's boundaries unless there are exceptional reasons to travel ,also each region has a night time curfew varying from region to region. In the Valencian communidad the curfew is 12 mid - 6am, some regions start at 10pm/11pm so all this makes driving very limited. So far these measures are in place until early Dec but we don't know whether they will be removed or increased. I'd advise you to check again closer to the time you intend to travel as the  updates  are regular & happen very quickly

Hope that helps

Cheers

Elinspain

Hi again . . . 

Thanks for the replies. 

The post was asking for assistance from like minded residents/non residents with regard to travel advice, that is relevant at the moment and possibly in the future. 

Charlie Farmer, thanks, but no thanks, if I wanted or asked for lesson in European politics I would have looked elsewhere. 

Elinspain, many thanks, a genuine reply. I will take your advice and keep my eye on the situation going forward. 

Its always been a pleasure coming out to Algorfa, I have always found the locals, of whatever nationality, to be friendly and a pleasure to be around. 

Hopefully the situation will not have changed too much should I in the future be in a position to return. 

Many thanks and stay safe. 

Mike

No problem, I hope you enjoy your stay however long it turns out to be for.

That wasn’t a lesson in politics , it’s reality. After 31  December, UK citizens are no longer allowed to be in Spain for more than 90 days. That’s a fact and not a political statement. We have been doing the same  everwinter and would dearly love that to continue but since the UK has chosen to come out  of the EU we are now deemed a Third Country and subject to immigration laws. If you overstay the 90 days you will be deemed an illegal immigrant. In other countries like Australia , your passport will be stamped and you won’t be allowed entry again, ever! I have no idea how the Spanish government will react but according to UK and EU law , no UK citizen can stay in an EU country for more than 90 days. How  do you not know that ?

Hi Mike,

Best to rely on official information, rather than the rumour mill.  As you say, your planned trip is several months away and Covid-19 restrictions can be increased (and eased) at very short notice.

For example, if you wanted to travel to your (holiday?) home in Spain at the moment and you were travelling from England, the UK Govt's restrictions wouldn't let you, never mind Spain's:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november

These restrictions are currently due to be lifted on 2 December, but you can sign up for alerts from the www.gov.uk website, so that you receive up to date changes as they happen for any restrictions applied there.  Then check back here before you travel for the latest situation in Spain.  All but 2 of Spain's 17 autonomous regions have closed their borders until 9 December, but the people in the remaining 2 regions can't leave anyway, because their neighbours' borders - including Portugal - are closed anyway! 😄  Who knows what the situation will be like next February.......

Kind regards, 

Kim

I would suggest that you keep an eye on the N332 Facebook page as they have been keeping us up to date with any new rules and regulations regarding this horrible virus since March this year.

Thanks Kimmy11, very helpful.

I have tended to book properties to rent, usually the same one, well in advance so when I booked the property for 2021 the advice from Gov/Uk at the time was wait and see, but they expected long term visits/rents to be possible and expected the extra months/weeks to be covered by obtaining a visa. 

That has obviously changed now to the 90 day rule. The Spanish government are very dependent on tourism and to allow money to be poured down the drains, from an economic standpoint, is difficult to understand. Limiting visits to 90 days, within a 180 day period is economic madness. Crazy. The powers that be will rue the decisions they have made at some point. 

I have today reduced my impending stay to 90 days and amended the ferry return date from Santander. 

The Uk government are at the moment not recommending travel to Spain (or anywhere else) for obvious reasons. If that should remain the case in February then insurance companies are prohibited from issuing travel policies. That in itself will end any possibility of returning in 2021.

I will wait with baited breath across the next few months to see what happens.

Many thanks to all who have posted replies. 

Muchas gracias

Mike

Hi Mike 

Perhaps the Spanish authorities would agree, but unfortunately, Schengen is a 'club' that they and most other EU countries signed up to 😔

Best wishes,

Kim